Showing at 2016 Made in Kings Heath Artist Christmas Fair for the first time this year, we are pleased to be introducing Giles Hughes. We hope you enjoy reading more about this artist who breaths new life into vintage ephemera.
I am an avid collector and spend most weekends scouring flea markets and junk shops. I have a broad range of interests but find myself drawn to anything rusty, battered and with a story to tell. Any vintage ephemera is also fair game and I have amassed a collection of thousands of old scraps, magazines, cuttings, postcards and posters.
The shelves and drawers of my studio are crammed with my latest finds, and if I’m ever short of ideas and inspiration a quick root through an old box usually turns up something of interest.
Much of what I pick up finds its way into my sculptures. These strange creations are usually based on heads and busts modelled from clay. Artefacts and objects are incorporated into pieces, sometimes for fun, sometimes for meaning. I’m especially interested in symbolism and combine spells, codes and symbols into most pieces.
Recently I have been producing journals and notebooks – using my collection of vintage ephemera to make unique one off designs, often on a given theme. I enjoy sorting through the piles of old papers and giving them a new lease of life.
Landscape painting is a real passion of mine, as painting in the studio can leave me a little cold I much prefer working outside and painting directly from life. The majority of my painting is done during the summer months, I love the rugged beauty of the Devon coastline and spend as much time as possible working there.
I have worked as an art teacher for many years now, and have kept myself busy by moonlighting as a commercial artist in my spare time – mainly creating work for restaurants and the entertainment industry. I also pick up the odd illustrating commission and have written and illustrated a number of books.
Made in Kings Heath 